COLUMBUS, OH - The Ohio Council of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) unveiled its 2021 Report Card for Ohio's Infrastructure, issuing grades from B to D for 16 categories, including: dams (C-), drinking water (D+), inland waterways (D+), levees (D), (B-), stormwater (D+) and wastewater (C-), among others.
"We found that Ohio has improved some infrastructure areas over the last 10 years, but we also learned that we still have a lot of work to do to improve many grades," said Craig Hebebrand, P.E., ASCE Ohio Council President. "We do these assessments to help citizens and decision-makers understand how Ohio's infrastructure is faring and what can be done to modernize its systems."
Innovation and data-based decision-making were key themes in the report. For example, many Ohio water systems are now implementing advanced metering systems that capture individual usage and allows both system managers and customers to access data and make better water usage decisions. This is an important step since aging water distribution networks are expected to cause a 36 percent increase in pipeline breaks over the next 20 years. Ohio's energy utilities are also making major investments. Using smart grid telemetry, many utilities can now locate outages in an automated way - a tool that improves safety for utility personnel during and after storms and removes the responsibility for ratepayers to report outages. Innovative practices such as these are important for addressing aging systems.
The report also includes recommendations to raise the grades, such as:
- Create incentives for state and local governments as well as the private sector to invest in maintenance and to improve the efficiency and performance of existing infrastructure.
- Improve land use planning at the local level to consider the function of existing and new infrastructure, the balance between the built and natural environments, and population trends in communities of all sizes.
This is the first Ohio-specific report card released in more than 10 years. ASCE State Infrastructure Report Cards are modeled after the national Infrastructure Report Card, which gave America's infrastructure a grade of 'D+' in 2017.
On March 3, 2020, ASCE will release the 2021 Report Card for America's Infrastructure. Learn more at www.infrastructurereportcard.org.
